Almost every person at some point in their life requires some form of vision correction. In addition, many people will require more advanced eye tests to diagnose various more serious medical conditions, such as glaucoma, retinal disease, cataracts, etc.
In most countries, including the Unites States, in order to get a pair of glasses or contact lenses, a person needs to obtain a prescription from a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist. Therefore, a person is required to make an appointment with the physician and visit the physician's office for a vision or other tests. This can be inconvenient if someone lives in a remote area and has to travel for a long time to get to the physician's office. Additionally, physician's office visits can be costly because they have to cover the physician's time spent with the patient, as well as other business expenses. Furthermore, because many patient's prefer to obtain or require a vision correction device on the spot, many physicians have to carry a large inventory of eye glasses and/or contact lenses to be dispensed to the patient, which can be inconvenient and costly for the physician. If the patient prefers a highly customized pair of glasses or contact lenses, he or she typically has to go to a specialty store to order them and then wait for a few weeks for them to be ready for pick up.
There are a number of prior art systems that attempt to solve the problems associated with a typical physician visit. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,740,386 to Foster discloses an automated vision screening system that performs various visual acuity tests, Snellen test, Landolt C test, glaucoma tests, color vision deficiency tests, and refractive error test. The system provides result reports at the kiosk or via the Internet to a third party, e.g. physician or lens supplier. The system can provide referrals, schedule appointments, request and collect payments from users, and dispense plano lenses. The system provides visual, physical and audio communication means and includes an eye cup for the patient to place their eye next to.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,384,146 to Covannon et al. discloses an automated diagnostic eye examination and fulfillment system. The system prompts the user to enter personal information and method of payment. Then, the user is instructed through various visual and diagnostic tests. The test data is analyzed and a report/prescription is generated for the user. The system may also create and dispense pre-selected prescription glasses to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,520,611 to Franz et al. discloses an optical telemedicine system including an examination location, a diagnostic location and a telecommunication link for transmittal of test data from the examination location to the diagnostic location for rendering a diagnosis. The patient can examine himself or with a help of a technician. The diagnosis report may be transmitted back to the examination center to be printed for the patient's records. The patient's information may be entered via keyboard, voice command or touch screen. The system may also utilize a video conference device for remote communication with the diagnostic location.
However, the above-discussed prior art systems still suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, these systems do not automatically analyze the test data at the location and render a diagnosis/prescription to the patient on the spot. Additionally, the prior art systems are not capable of creating a customized pair of eye glasses or contact lenses via 3-D printing to be dispensed to a customer on the spot. Furthermore, these systems do not include a capability of measuring a person's face and/or head anatomy to allow the customer to visualize how a vision correction device looks on them before deciding to purchase it and to produce a highly customized vision correction device on the spot that is based on a model of each customer's head/face anatomy.
Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to create a fully or at least partially automated very comprehensive eye test and measurement system that also has a point-of-purchase capability where a customer may obtain a highly customized eyewear product on the spot. The system of the present invention provides an advantage in that optometrists and ophthalmologists would no longer have to carry a large inventory of lenses and glasses to accommodate the patient's need. Instead, customized glasses or lenses may be prepared on the spot by the system of the present invention. Another objective of the present invention is to create various types of unconventional clinical eyewear that is geared towards each patient's unique anatomy and needs.